McClellan – Palomar Airport is located only 5 Km to the southeast of Carlsbad city. It is in short form called Palomar Airport, with the IATA airport code ‘CLD’. This public airport is managed by San Diego County authority in California. The ICAO identifier code of this airport is ‘KCRQ’. It is used for civil aviation now, including general aviation and commercial aviation. This airport was named after Gerald McClellan, who was a famous aviator and a revered leader in San Diego County.

This large airport contains a runway measuring 1493 meters x 46 meters, that is made of asphalt. There is also a helipad with an asphalt surface, of diameters 30 meters x 30 meters. In total, 288 aircraft have their base in Palomar Airport, including aircraft with a single engine, jet planes, aircraft with multiple engines, and helicopters. However, several hundreds of flights run daily from this airport to various destinations in the world.

The terminal of this airport in Palomar Airport Road was opened in 2009, enabling more flights to take off and land safely in this airport. Passengers are offered a long-term parking facility, which can be stretched up to 30 days, for a nominal charge. Thus, people can leave their vehicles here and fly off to distant places for their work or spend vacations.

Advanced Air is a private charter airline in the USA, which is based in Hawthorne Airport and also operates in Palomar Airport. It also runs seasonal flights to Mammoth Lakes, using Dornier 325 Jet planes or King Air 350, both of which are famed for rendering the best flying experience to its passengers.

Surf Air is another private airline that is based in Los Angles and runs private charter planes in Palomar Airport. It runs flights from McClellan – Palomar Airport to other cities in California, as well as to Las Vegas. All the maintenance and management services of aircraft are handled by Clay Lacy Aviation, which offers services to all private charter planes and corporate jets in Palomar Airport.

Previously, United Airlines served in Palomar Airport while the flights were managed by SkyWest Airlines. The service of United Airlines was stopped in 2015 as the jet planes of SkyWest Airlines needed a longer runway than the one in this airport. American Eagle, the subsidiary of American Airlines, also offered services in McClellan – Palomar Airport earlier, and its flights were run by Wings West Airlines. Imperial Airlines, Golden West Airlines, and Ultimate Air Shuttle were other airlines that once served in this airport.

The incidents of accidents are very less in this airport, as per the reports published in different local newspapers. In 2006, a plane arriving from Hailey in Blaine County burst into flames while running on the runway, causing deaths of all passengers and crews. Incidents of 2 plane crashes were reported in 2007 and two were reported in 2008, due to technical faults and bad weather. In 2015, a helicopter crashed down at this airport, resulting in the death of its passengers.